Help me, I am trapped inside an ice cube!

Help me, I am trapped inside an ice cube!
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

just thought you should all know, this is what I do with my time, rather than study.....

Christmas anyone?

Pipin' hot fuitcake
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Holy Crap! When did time decide to fast forward over to Christmas? Nothing signifies the coming of Christmas in my family like fruitcake does. That's because we all have to partake and put our love into it.

I don't know about you guys, but the days leading up to Christmas used to go by SOOO slow, and I used to linger by the tree, looking at all the wonderful gifts I would get to open: Christmas just couldn't come fast enough.

I wish I could get that feeling again; however, now it just seems like another day, and the reason I am so excited about it, is because I get a day off work, which means I can concentrate on my homework (despite my current procrastination).

Also, what happened to a White Christmas? Is it just a thing of the past? I know I sure can't envision Christmas if I don't even have to warm up my car in the morning.....

Anyway, all this just to say have a MERRY CHRISTMAS, even if you don't realize it's Christmas Eve yet....I need to get some homework done so I can go cross country skiing today.

B tard

I don't heart theory!
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

“B” tard.

Ok, so I know I am geeking out by getting all upset about my B average right now, but it’s seriously hurting my intellectual ego right now. I can’t help but feel inferior when it seems like I am part of the 8% (this is a hypothetical number I have used to emphasize how I feel) that is not being rewarded with As every second day. And yes, we do get assingments back every second day because we have to hand some in every second day.

I am trying to be positive about this – really, the point in my doing this Master’s is to learn. It’s to improve. Nonetheless, when the options are A, B, or fail, I’ll take the A thank you. None of this second grade B shit. “But Lisa,” I am sure you are now thinking, “you speak five languages! Get over it already, you are not an idiot!” To that I say “Who cares. It’s not getting me As at the moment, is it?!?!”

It’s ironic, because just the other day one of my professors was talking about how grades get you to the Master’s, but once you are in, they are baisically irrelevant. The fact that I get Bs won’t prevent me from getting a job; it won’t prevent me from getting published (I doubt this will be the case anyway); regardless, it just plain feels shitty and nothing (other than getting an A, of course) can make me feel better about it.

mr sandman, bring me some SLEEP!

....so it's 1:21 am and for the second night in a row, I can't sleep. Asides from this being extremely frustrating, it's somewhat concerning. I need my mind to be sharp so I can do all my work! It seems I get sleepy precisely at the wrong time -- during class. Contrary to my usual get-tired-at-10:30-go-to-bed-at-11-wake-up-at-6am routine which has kept my body and mind in tip top shape so far, my bodily schedule is all out of whack. OUT OF WHACK I SAY! It has since turned into a go-to-bed-at-2-wake-up-at-6am routine, and I don't think I even need to explain why this is a bad thing. Ever seen sleepy Lisa? Sleepy Lisa = grumpy Lisa, and grumpy Lisa is no fun at all.

We could turn this into a riveting phiosophy 101 excercise:

Lisa is sleepy
Lisa is grumpy
Therefore if Lisa is sleepy, she is grumpy.

and now we have a truism. I think. Please keep in mind that I took this class some 6 years ago, and it was in French, too boot.

On top of all this I have thoughts of constructivism, functionalism and liberal pluralim running through my mind. Then there's the inductive qualitative paradigm that pops up now and again, and "am I properly using a semi-colon in this sentence?" .... "oh! now, what about dependant clauses?!" and "yeah that guy in my class is pretty cute", and "how the hell did I manage to talk for $142.79 worth on my cell phone last month?!"..................


Now if you will excuse me, I am going to try to convince my body (and mind) to sleep.

Back to school!

Well I have been wanting to update my blog and had many an entry idea, but unfortunately I never got arround to it, my enthousiasm for the entries has since faded and I been simply too busy with working, trying to stay in shape, eat well and get all my pre residency work and readings done. So I write to you from rainy Vancouver, and until it startd raining like crazy I thought I might like to move out here in the next year or so...it seems to be the place to be, since most of my good friends are here and I would like to be a part of their lives; and I also feel it would be easier to take on the new healthy lifestyle I am trying to take on here in in Vancouver. There are yoga places, organic food stores and sushi restaurants everywhere here! what's not to like?! Rent is also cheaper here (or the same price, at the most) compared to Calgary......

Really though, Vancouver is beautiful. It's grey, but manages to remain so colouful! The leaves are bright orange and bright red and green, even if they skies are grey. Just the rain......the damn rain! The weather really is much milder and it's nice to be here....

So I stat school on Monday and I am definetely looking forward to it! Got just about all my readings done and am feeling pumped. PUMPED I TELL YOU!

nerdin' out,

Lisa

Low Batt.

Well I haven't even been home a month and I have already managed to tired myself out so much that I already have that "stuggling to keep your head above water" syndrome. Part of that is due to the comute in traffic during rush hour, which takes nearly three hours out of my day. We could put it this way - I get up at 6, leave at 7 as the sun goes up and work til 6 and arrive arround 7:30, again in time to catch the sunset. (Neat thing is during the monring I dive towards the East and in the evenings drive back towards the West) But between prepping for school, trying to make a representative online album of the past 10 months of my life, looking for a job (this means getting up at 5:30 am to complete and read over cover letters that were composed at 11 pm the night before), catching up with friends and doing frisbee, yoga and squash; I have come to the conclusion that I am forgetting to take care of the most important person in my life: me. So if that means that it's Saturday night and I played Frisbee for 5 hours today and am too tired to go for dinner with friends, then I simply won't go! I think mainly I just need to get enough rest to be able to enjoy my outings, since now they have become another thing that has to get done.

On another tangent, I went out last night and saw many old friends associated with my ex, Darryl and with my former job at Neteller. Although it was really great seeing all of them again and I had a good time, especially watching his band play, all this weird nostalgia set in. Not nostaliga as in "I want to relive this" but more like "Yup. No need to go back there again....." I guess it's a healthy feeling?

Regardless, now I am waiting for my supper to cook, with which I will stuff myself, to later keel over and sleep for as much as 12 hours until day break. Great plans huh?

gettin' whipped back into shape.

Yeah. My return to Canada has been somewhat hectic...I had wanted to write all about the Brighton chronicles and my time in Brighton with Scott but unfortunately too much time has gone by and it's just all one hillarious blurr to me right now.

I have, however, been keeping quite busy. Within one week of being home, I was already moving out temporarily to Bearspaw to house/pet sit. It's great -- I get a view of the rockies, I get the company of 2 big dogs and one cute cat, and I get an hour and 15 minute drive into the centre of town everyday. yugh. Why am I doing this again?? Oh yeah, wait, I know why...BECAUSE I AM BROKE ASS!!! (and they are paying me) Actually I ike housesitting but the timing this is a bit bad right now. I am housesitting for 3 weeks, which happens to be within my first month back, so I am running arround, driving nearly three hours a day just to go for a beer kind of thing. The problem is that I WANT to see my friends and I want to go out but once I get here and it's nearly 8pm, there is no way in hell that I just want to hop in my car again and drive out to the city centre. I can't afford anything anyway.

In other news, I played my first game(s!) of Ultimate Frisbee today...WOO! It was a jolly old time, except that I nearly died. What was I thinking!?! I can't run like a mad woman and chase a frisbee for two hours! I have walking muscles, WALKING! After our victories (not because of me, might I add) my toe curled up involuntarily and I couldn't get it back to normal!!! I litteraly had to pry it open with my fingers to seperate it from my foot. It wasn't painful per say, but it was most definetely weird. I think anytime your body does something your brain didn't ask it to is guaranteed to be slightly odd.

So now I am in Bearspaw with Socrates watching me as I type this between the online orientation for my Master's, online job applications, msn, and translating for a friend....which I should get back to.....

Chetnik lisa

Chetnik lisa
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Well it’s my second last day here and that sinking feeling of termination has slowly crept up on me. I’ve got that heavy feeling that you get when something is over, that you can’t do anything about. This place became my home away from home during my 9 months away, through living and working here, then by dropping in and relaxing for sometime before continuing on to my next destination. I’m at that stage where I have to say “well if I don’t see you again, take care” or “it was nice knowing you” and when I get the question “when will you return to Serbia?” replying with an apologetic shrug and a “I really don’t know”. For the most par of last week it had been rainy and I had been fighting some weird stomach virus and counting down the days to go home, and now the pinch in my heart makes me wish I had better appreciated my time here, and the famous words of Joni Mitchell come to mind “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone”….

The sun has since come out, and the weather has been lovely here. Over the weekend went to the “GUCA” trumpet festival in Southern Serbia, where I partied with Serbs, complete with Chetnik army cap and all…..It’s a part of Serbian culture not to be missed! The sound of powerful, almost schizophrenic trumpet orchestras all over the streets, blaring high-energy music – you can’t help but get in to it! And all the beer helps get in the mood quite effectively…. Not to mention to mention the smell of grilling meat (I had the BEST “pljeskavica” – Serbian style hamburger – of my LIFE there), corn on the cob, “kupus” (delicious cooked cabbage) and local pastries!

I get I just have to make the best of my remaining time here before I head out to London to see Shcott and head home....

This is the end....

Well that’s it. It’s pretty much over. My time in Turkey has passed (just in time, apparently, or else I might have been victim or witness to bombings!) and now it feels like I am aimlessly waiting the day that I can go home. Which I suppose is what I am literally am doing. I tried to find a flight back to Calgary for early September but it seems they have all been booked. So now I am sitting in rainy, cold, drab Novi Becej (I always arrive on time for the rain here) but my mind is elsewhere. Gotta get stuff done for school, gotta organize my photos, gotta start making money, gotta get in shape, gotta get my life in order….you name it, I gotta do it. I am really excited to come home and start a new chapter of my life. I suppose this trip may seem like your cliché “just finished my degree so I”m taking off for a year” trip, but it really wasn’t. Which is what I realized as I was here. I think I have passed the stage where I want to do something just for fun, or to pass time by…I ain’t getting’ any younger after all. I feel this trip lacked purpose – although don’t get me wrong, it was great to travel and learn and see things -- it just felt kind of selfish. Next extended trip should be for a development project of some sort, or some sort of goal, which would allow me to contribute somehow, or make some sort of a difference. I guess I feel like this, because life has been good to me, and has given me so much that I want to give back to it. I still have many trips planned and still want to climb the Kilimanjaro, go scuba diving in the Red Sea, hike the Inca Trail, ride a camel in the Moroccan desert, drink tea in Japan, go to Island, and who knows, maybe even go to the States some day…..but for now I just want to drink tea with my mom after doing the dishes together; hear my dad howling to ACDC on Saturday mornings; fight with my sister over clothes and makeup; and fall asleep with a cat on my lap.

headıng east

on top of old smokey...oh waıt, that's Mt. Nemrut
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Today was the most amazıng day I have had ın Turkey so far -- just when I thought the lunar landscapes of Capadoccıa were ımpossıble to beat (well, they stıll sort of are...) I have made ıt to southeast anatolıa, whıch ıs a whole other world. We woke up to see the sunrıse on Mount Nemrut - and yes for anyone who has been to Turkey, ı saw the Lonely Planet cover pıcture wıth my own eyes - and later made ıt to the southern town of Harran. Walkıng arround ın 48 degree wheather ın the oldest mesopotamıan cıty ıs undescrıbable....Honey coloured brıck and mud huts by the sunset , kıds runnıng to see us to speak wıth us and ınevıtably get one or two turkıs Lıra from us, people sayıng hello to us and ınvıtıng us ınto theır homes.....Indeed beıng ın thıs 4000 year old town 15 kılometres from the Syrıan border feel much more lıke the mıddle east then the relatıvely westernızed (and tourıst orıented)cıty of Istanbul. We also vısıted the Karavansaray (baısıcally a camel parkıng lot durıng the sılk roads perıod) where the prophet Abraham met hıs wıfe, Sarah, and saw the cave he was born ın. I have decıded to cut my tıme ın Turkey by a week, mostly for fınancıal reasons but now I have a wonderful taste left ın my mouth that wıll keep me wantıng more and needıng to come back and go even deeper ınto the mıddle east....

Orıent Express

...So after a long 36 hours of travel tıme, I fınd myself reunıted wıth my good frıend Maıte, wanderıng the swealterıng streets of Istanbul. It's a mıghty 38 degrees celcıus here, but that's not stoppıng the vendors and turkısh, ahem, gentlemenn from approachıng us. 'Hello, where are you from' or my personal favorıte ' Excuse me, you dropped somethıng' as he gestures towards hıs broken heart. I have never been asked out for tea so many tımes ın such a short perıod of tıme!

Although I knew Istabul would be quıte progressıve ın comparıson to the rest of the country, ıts stıll ımpressıve. There ıs not one call tp prayer, but several, echoıng through out the cıty, 5 tımes a day. I cant say ıts partıcularıly spırıtual to hear, through the bustlıng traffıc and tourısts, carpet sellers and tramway; ındeed the call to prayer here seems more lıke an extra noıse.

Istanbul ıs a great cıty, fılled wıth delıcıous surprıses ın ıts nooks and crannıes. local waterpıpe cafes, turkısh coffee, grılled meats and lets not forget, the Turkısh Delıght!

Pottie mouth -- a word on eastern european toilets

So, I consider myself a pretty tolerant personç I thınk I have seen quıte a few thıngs ın my lıfe and that I am not very fussy. ı certaınly don't have prıncess syndrome and I can pee anywhere........almost. Somethıng really has to be saıd about the toılets here -- especıally the ones on the traıns. Between the one wıth the door that's jammed shut, the one wıth the door that won't close and the excrement-fılled one, it's not always a matter of choice. It's quıte a physıcal challenge to have to grab onto the wall handle wıth one hand and your pants wıth the other so your pants dont get wet from the pee on the floor, and so my ass doesn't doesn't touch the shıt on the seat (ıt's runny and red and ıt looks lıke they had corn for dınner). That's ıf there ıs a seat. Most trıps to the toılet requıre ıntense squattıng sınce there ıs no actual seat (not that I would want to sıt on ıt anyway).

Traınstatıons charge you for the use of the toıletö sınce there ıs *staff* who takes care of ıt. what the hell the staff does ıs beyond me. MOst of the tıme they don't even gıve you the paper you're essentıally payıng for, and they certaınly don't clean them! I guess I don't mınd ıf there ıs no seat, thıs ıs ıf you are prıvıledged enough to get a toılet and not a hole ın the ground wıth two spots for your feet, but as I was sayıng, I dont understand WHY they dont have a seat....I mean wouldnt ıt just make sense to have one?

it's alive!

it's alive!
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Headline reads: Momentous day! Ipod comes back to life after weeklong death!

July 2nd 2006. The presumed dead ipod resurrects from electronic wasteland after being pronounced officially dead a week earlier. Victim and eye witness of this miracle, Lisa Cyr, 25, moments after the resurrection says " I just can't believe it! I thought I was going to have to throw it away and as soon as I touched it, I saw the apple..THE APPLE!"

Innocent bystander and sister, Renee Cyr, claims "I never even saw it comming", as the hysteric Lisa jumps up and down proclaiming the good news.

details on Sarajevo

So I figured I should explain to you all a little bit why I find Sarajevo so magic.

There is a special feeling here, something I felt as soon as I stepped onto the cobble stones of the old turquish quarter. The sun was setting on the town and shining on the mosques and surrounding mountain houses. There is a quiet, peaceful feel to the town, something like the calm after the storm I guess you could say. People are incredibly receptive and friendly here and the fact that I speak Bosnian puts a smile on everyone's face. "Dobro pricas bosansko!"

Yesterday Renee and I went on a small tour organized by one of the guys that works in the youth hostel. We were taken to the site of the Sarajevo tunnel, the tunnel that litterallly saved citizens of Sarajevo. Our guide had personally used this tunnel 800 metre long, 1.6 metres high and 1 metre tunnel to get food and provisions. On this day, July 11th 1995 arround 8000 Bosniaks (Muslim Bosnians) were executed by the Serbian nationalist army, and bodies are still being found today. When I think of what these people have been through, it gives me chills down my spine. This down definetely has a spirit and one feels it right away. I went inside a mosque today and it was great. There is so much room to breathe in there. I am going to go to a service tonight -- I want to feel what the call to prayer and live it personally. I am excited to go to Turkey as well! This is just a taste!

I have been treating myself to cevapcicis and bureks, local delicacies. Went to a shisha cafe today and enjoyed some apple tobacco, and have made many trips to the local fountains and water sources. According to the legend, if you drink from one of the many sources of water inside the city, you will return someday. I must have had about 2 litres of it already! This is quite possibly my favorite city so far and has definetely left a permanent impression on me.

Please come to Sarajevo!

Sarajevo afternoon

Sarajevo afternoon
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

I LOVE SARAJEVO!
I LOVE SARAJEVO!
I LOVE SARAJEVO!

U & me baby just weren't meant to be.....

I have a love hate relationship with my Ipod. I love it so much but every time I need it it's not there for me! It always stops working and breaks down on me. I jhave recently gotten back together with it and have put tons of new music onto it (thanks Skye!) but JUST when I was starting to get excited about having it again and being reunited with my music, it broke down on me again (that little bastard). I guess I just don't want to accept that it's over and I keep clinging onto the idea that it just might work again. My problem is that I have trouble moving on and letting go, so knowing myself, I am going to keep on lugging that non functional Ipod with me the rest of the way in the hopes that wil will one day work again and carry along the way since I just can't part with it.

The two faces of Prague

It's kind of a freaky thing to come to a new city through the rougher part of town after a 6 hour train ride. The park behind the main train station is an area where "questionable caracters", as the lonely planet calls them, hang out. There was still day light but it was on it's way out and walking arround with a big back pack and some other random bags and things didn't quite seem to fit into the decor. Moments after a feeble attempt to get my bearings, my sister and I wanted to walk to the hostel, since the flyer says it's a 10 minute walk to the next metro station, followed by a 5 minute walk from there to the hostel. "We can manage that, tough girls that we are" Renee and I tell ourselves. So we go to ask the kind lady at the information desk how to walk to Florence bus station since the lonely planet map is crap and the hostel flyer is difficult to read. "Just take the metro", she says, "yes, but how can we walk there?" we ask again. "Just take the metro!". We turn and face each other "uh, I guess we're taking the metro...." So we take the metro and figure we can walk the remaning 5 minutes to the hostel. We turn the street away from the metro and see some paramedics calmly looking down. What could this be?, Renee and I wonder. Turns out it's a dead man, who has possibly died of an overdose...whatever it was, he seemed to have left this world in a peaceful state.

So we finally get to the grafiti covered youth hostel, all we want is a shower from our half hour trek, long train ride and short morning where showering had not been an option. (Sleep was more important at that point in time).

This morning, however, my memory of Prague and last night's introduction did not do me justice! Renee and I walked about Prague's old quarter, treated ourselves to a cheap boat tour, went up to the caslte, down golden lane and dragged our heavy feet back to the hostel where we bought ourselves a record cheap meal. 53 Krones later (1 Candadian dollar is 20 Krones) we had enough to make a small but delicious salad....

All I can say is taht it's not taking that long for me to get back into the groove of backpacking, after a month long break of being with friends in Serbia and Germany!

Prague Castle!

Prague Castle!
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Ok. Apparently some people DO read my blog! This has consequently instilled in me the need to produce a quality product! He he...really though, so this is what's going in with me. Renee got to Berlin for the world cup, as you know, afterwhich we went to Braunschweig to spend some time with my good girlfriend Sonja...after too little sleep there and too much partying we headed off to Gifhorn for a short stop at Pahlmann's 25th wedding anniversary. More beer, less sleep. After a groggy train ride to Prague we spent the whole day walking arround the old part of town the Charles bridge, seeing the castle, golden lane etc. There is a frustratingly big international crowd here though...Obviously my sister and I weren't the only ones to notice how close Prague is to Berlin......

Tomorrow we are off to the Ossuary in a UNESCO world heritage listed town so I am pretty excited! After the Czech Republic we are heading out to Vienna for Canada day -- in case I don't update anything before then, have a good one guys!

Right time, right place

World Cur Fans
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

As most of you know, the world cup is happening right now in cities all over Germany, so I thought it would be cool to pop by and check out the action. So after a ridiculously long and hot train ride back to Serbia (couldn't go through Macedonia again because Canadians need a visa! ARGH) I made it to Belgrade and Novi becej where I took things easy for a few days. Headed back up to Budapest and flew to Berlin where I met with Gwen, Marie-Pier and Julia. My sister just got here and all I can say is "jetzt geht's los!" (now we're getting started!) She's still all jet lagged and tired but she's going to muster up the energy to go shopping today (after all, you can't be in Germany without going to H&M) and then hitting up a raggae show in a park for the games tonight.

fare thee well

the view
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Well I can't believe I am actually leaving Greece! It feels like I have been here forever, but I could VERY easily stay here for ever! The people I have met have been so great -- Greek hospitality is something we could all learn from! So now, when the Hellens (Greeks) exagerate about a place being the MOST beautiful in the whole entire world, or the most amazing in ALL of Europe, or the oldest in the universe, etc. I am tempted to believe them! Sorry, that's sort of an inside because apparently the Greeks tend to ..."embellish" things a bit. Really though, it's a beautiful country, the people are great, the food is oh-so-tasty, the weather is great, etc. what's not to like?!

Artichoke hearts and other stories

Ios
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

...if mainland Greece wasn't beautiful enough, the islands are pure magic! First stop was Ios, where I spent two days simply relaxing. Fred and I rented a scooter the second day and rode arround the island. We finally got to a beach where the only two other people on the island were two Austrians who had just attended the European social forum (http://www.socialforum-media.gr/english_index.htm) ... why I didn't participate still baffles me since the topics were on development and social action, etc. So we feasted together on boiled artichokes and dip and killer rice (with Ayaveda spices, something I want to look into when I get back. Indian food that caters to your type and work at creating balance inside you). So the girl, Astrid, told me about Master's programms in Norway, sice she also happened to be studying international development in Vienna.

Next up, Santorini. Just look at the photos on snapfish and 'nuff said. We went to the volcano and later watched the sunset from Oia, Fred, Philipp (a guy from Quebec we met) and I.

Beautiful as it was, the second day I felt the wind of departure nonetheless and decided to set sail earlier than planned. I set out to Crete where I was greeted by my couchsurfing hosts, Spilios and Kostas. Had a blast riding around Hania with Spilios on his motorbike and going for coffee with some friends. I hit up the Samaria gorge, which was really beautiful....

Also, I WENT SCUBA DIVING TODAY! :D it was awesome and I did alright for myself, considering I hadn't gone in about 2 two years!

the Parthenon, baby!

the Parthenon, baby!
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

yeah, if my smile is this big it's cause it's that cool! I love Athens and I love Greece! (only thing that doesn't, is my wallet.....)

scary-burning-face-fever

adam says:
so what will you ask the oracle?
adam says:
you have to ask it something
adam says:
or it's like going to a water park and not getting wet
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I will ask it what the purpose is behind my being so sick
adam says:
hehehehehe
Lisa - in Albania! says:
(mad face)
Lisa - in Albania! says:
seriously
adam says:
well you can't shout at it
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I had a CRAZY fever!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
haha
Lisa - in Albania! says:
ok I wont
adam says:
did you go to the doctor?
Lisa - in Albania! says:
yeah
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I needed anitbiotics SO bad
Lisa - in Albania! says:
and they are helping
Lisa - in Albania! says:
but I am still in quit a bit of pain
adam says:
They say when you shake hands with a greek you're supposed to count your fingers afterwards
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I guessit's a good thing cause it shuts me up for a while!
adam says:
i wonder what you're supposed to do after you expose your throat
adam says:
i'm sorry you're in pain here's a kitty to cheer you up
Lisa - in Albania! says:
aww thanks
Lisa - in Albania! says:
why, I feel better already!
adam says:
how many days have you been this sick
Lisa - in Albania! says:
well, about 4
adam says:
o that bites
Lisa - in Albania! says:
the 1st wasnt so bad
Lisa - in Albania! says:
then the 2nd is when I fell in the river and had scary- burning-face-fever, the 3rd I went to the doctors and today I am still sore
adam says:
tell me more about the river event
adam says:
i can't stop laughing at the phrase "scary-burning-face-feaver"
adam says:
sorry
Lisa - in Albania! says:
lol
adam says:
so the river
Lisa - in Albania! says:
well
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I was kind of sick, but decided to go out and treck the Vikos gorge with this guy I am travelling with for a bit, Fred
adam says:
the french guy
adam says:
right
Lisa - in Albania! says:
so we searched for the trail (it's the deepest gorge in the WORLD! over 900m)
adam says:
and you fell down it!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
so despite my uncanny femail instincts telling me walking through the river and through trees and stone was not a trail
Lisa - in Albania! says:
he insisted on trying to cross the river
Lisa - in Albania! says:
so I followed along
adam says:
its it a really big strong river?
Lisa - in Albania! says:
haha, no I didnt fall DOWN the gorge
Lisa - in Albania! says:
well, it had a current, but it was moreso that the rocks were really slippery
Lisa - in Albania! says:
he fell in too, only he didnt have mild strep when he set out on the treck
adam says:
so did the river sweep you down
Lisa - in Albania! says:
so after 3 hours of walking arround with wet feet (and ass if you were me)
Lisa - in Albania! says:
no
Lisa - in Albania! says:
but it pissed me off all right
adam says:
so your head didn't go under
adam says:
hahahahaha
Lisa - in Albania! says:
no
Lisa - in Albania! says:

Lisa - in Albania! says:
and then we had to cross it AGAIN!
adam says:
i think i'd like to hear this from you better but this written version is pretty good
Lisa - in Albania! says:
and that wasnt even the ight place to cross
adam says:
ha
Lisa - in Albania! says:
yeah, you'd get the faces to accompany it!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
so we came to sort of cliff rocks
Lisa - in Albania! says:
it was SOO SKETCHY!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I wish I had taken a picture
adam says:
hahahah
adam says:
me too
Lisa - in Albania! says:
cause if we had fallen from that, one of us would surely have died. I am convinced that would have been me
adam says:
fun
adam says:
now you have a story
Lisa - in Albania! says:
needless to say, I was putting to excellent use the more colourful side of my vocabulary
Lisa - in Albania! says:
....
Lisa - in Albania! says:
sure do!
adam says:
were you really mad?
Lisa - in Albania! says:
nah
Lisa - in Albania! says:
well, sometimes
Lisa - in Albania! says:
cause it was scary!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
and I was cursing myself for not listening to myself!
adam says:
yeah that's the worst
adam says:
christopher got us into all sorts of trouble
Lisa - in Albania! says:
but whatever we made it safe...but we were seriously traversing the rocks like rock climbers
adam says:
but the thing is i let him do the leading on our adventures because he always gets us out of the trouble too
Lisa - in Albania! says:
until we got to the safe part
Lisa - in Albania! says:
haha
Lisa - in Albania! says:
well thats; good!
adam says:
but then i was the one that went to jail
Lisa - in Albania! says:
as long as he gets you out of it
adam says:
in morocco not him
Lisa - in Albania! says:
oh yeha!?
Lisa - in Albania! says:
what happened?
adam says:
when you get to canada you can read it on my myspace account
Lisa - in Albania! says:
aah!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
yes!
adam says:
we offended islam
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I guess I should write about scary-burning-face-fever on my blog
Lisa - in Albania! says:
oh yeah?!
adam says:
and were wearing our cool white suits
Lisa - in Albania! says:
yeah, how is that offensive to islam>?
adam says:
just cut and paste this conversation
Lisa - in Albania! says:
lol
adam says:
BECAUSE WE WERE TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
Lisa - in Albania! says:
good idea!
Lisa - in Albania! says:
I am going to do taht now actually....

OH MY GOD. I just had THE best meal of my life! Why, you ask, was this simple little tortellini dish so blissful?!? Well my friends, for the past 2 days I have been inflicted with a severe case of "acute tonsilitous" (strep throat) and it's so painful that I can't eat. It all started...well I don't know when it started exactly. Fred and I chilled out in Cofu for a few days after having a wicked time in Albania -- Fred taught some Gypsy kids how to juggle (I took pictures) through the American Peace Corps. We sort of did a Peace Corps shuffle in Albania and it was great hanging out with them and seeing them work on community development projects and stuff....it made me want to look into CIDA internships again...

So anyway, Albania turned out to be an extremely friendly country! People were always willing to help us and I felt safe the whole time I was there! Just don't get me started on the bus system - oh wait - there is none. So we managed to take the boat to Cofu Greece, after witnessing and intense and colourful (to say the least!) difference of opinons between the two ferry lines and the weater was great! Stayed in a Youth Hostel called the Sunrock really good price, breakfast and supper included and it's right by the beach! The weather was great, probably like 27 degrees so I got some son tanning in.

So, remember how I was talking about strep throat? WELL. From Corfu we had to hitchike to Monodendri since there are only two busses a week....So cars were passing by and passing by, finally a Priest came to pick us up and dropped us off in the village since it was close to his -- this means he made a 15km detour for us! So, from the humid beach to dryer, colder mountain air = no good. Also, falling in the river on a treck that would lead us nowhere the next day certainly did not help. That's when the fever set in. Worse thing is, we only found the path to the Vikos gorge AFTER wandering arround for 3 hours cold and wet in the trees and rocks...so for two days now I have not been able to swallow without searing pain shooting throughout my body. I have been hungry for two days and pretty much unable to eat...but there is hope! I went to the doctor's today, and although he didn't prescribe anything for the pain, whatever pills he got me taking seem to helping a bit.

Alors, afin de boucler la boucle: right now, I just had the best meal of my life.

Twisted Tirana

After a groggy night on the bus from Struga (F.Y.R. of Macedonia) Fred and I got into Tirana at about 5 am. We didn't have a CLUE where we were cause the terminal stop is more like a fruit stand than anything, a nice taxi driver offered us a ride. Being a traveller I am a bit weary of friendly taxi drivers, I am sure you can understand why, but this guy spoke great English since he worked in London for a few years. So we go for coffee at his brother's cafe and the guy pulls out this crazy story about how he was shot and had to escape to London but got denied residency. Here's a crazy unrelated fact : Albania has the most violent mafia in all of Europe. That being said, all the people we haved talked to so far and have met are really great, super generous and really friendly.

So, Tirana is a really intersting city. There aren't necessarily that many things to see but it's really interesting to look at the architechture. The buildings have odd color combinations, the centre is a flat, wide open (hello communism?!) area with huge pot holes, no lanes on the streets (and no pedestrian crossings either, for that matter!) and people walking and driving in everywhich directly. It's a beautiful mess and I love it.

Macedonia sweet Macedonia!

ohrid
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

*sigh* I am so completely in love with Macedonia! The people I have met so far have an unsurpassed sense of hospitality, the countryside is eye-popping, jaw-dropping, stop-you-mid-breath beautiful. The call to prayer in the afternoon sun, orthodox priests walking down the street next to the farmer with his goats in the centre of town...

In Prilep I stayed with amazing couchsurfing hosts who really went out of their way to show me arround. I originally thought I would stay 2 days and spend 4-5! On the last day we hiked up to a MOnastary in the hills next to the city and slept there over night and it was so soothing. Then in Struga Fred (from France) and I biked to Ohrid (only about 15 kilometres) and walked up to the fortress where we sat and had lunch...fresh bread and local cheese with some cucumbers and sausage...it was a little slice of heaven. I did manage to burn one side of my face but it was well worth it! Later that night we wound up in some birthday party in the albanian community in Struga...it was crazy! People we so friendly, and so curious, and so proud....I really wish I didn't have to leave the country tomorrow (yes, canadians need a visa ?!?!) but I have a newfound interest in Albania, having seen such warmth in the Albanians last night...

Monk

Monk
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

As soon as I got to Bulgaria I got a good feeling deep inside...well really, I get that feeling everywhere, but the people I have been meeting and the places I have been going to keep taking my breath away....

Sofia wasn't all that impressive, yet I managed to stay there a good 5 days! Went out snowboarding and Rila monastary and met some great people in the hostels....I am definetely returning mid-May and hopefully going on a kayak/camping trip, if I can pull myself away from Greece on time. I guess we'll see.....

cry baby

Ron, remember those tears of joy we were talking about?

Well I was sitting in the bus from Veliko Tarnovo to Plovdiv listening to Groove Armada watching the landscape pass by and my eyes just welled up. It was such a great feelin -- and it had been a while since I had had them too. Just total happiness and innerpeace and love. Just thought I'd let you know.....

Bucarest, pt.II

Well the weather here is absolutely wonderful (in German, I would say herrlich, which really is the most appropriate term I can find) and I had a great day. Adrian (Bobo) from Hospitality Club (like Couchsurfing) that I met over the weekend met me in the morning. So we walked arround and he helped me find the Macedonian embassy and I am really excited! I got my visa for Macedonia! Wooo! So although Tim won't be joining me anymore due to unforseen cicumstances I think I am setting myself up for a pretty good trip. I have only been in Bucarest two days, but I really like the city and the grandiose feeling it gives off. The Casa Poporolui (the house of the people) was absolutely amazing. Apparently Ceaucescu bulldozed many churches and made a large number of people homeles in order to build it and it's 3.2 km "champs-elysee" style bulevard that leads to it. Might I remind you, it's called the house of the PEOPLE! (?!?) some favour he did the people by bulldozing their houses and rendering them homeless.

Being the well informed traveller that I am, I didn't realize that about 80% of the population was Orthodox. (duh.) I find Orthodox churches so esthetic! They are colourful on the outside and spacious on the inside and coverd with paintings and frescoes. Once I can download on flickr again (I have reached my monthly maximum :( ) I will put some pictures on it and my blog again. For now you'll have to bear with my (poorly written) text!

Well, I think it's dinner time and tonight I am going to Vera's place (met her at the couchsurfing party on the weekend) for a drink and some shisha.

Welcome to Bucarest, baby

Well I arrived in Bucarest last night and what a difference from the small mountain towns I was in before. The buldings are huge! MASSIVE! I've never felt so small in all my life! I've also had a shocking first taste of Bucarest and Romania and realize what people were warning me about -- I went to the Canadian embassy to ask about getting a visa for Macedonia and saw a girl there crying. I asked what had happened to her and she told me her back pack got stolen on the night train while she was sleeping...I guess I won't be taking the night train then. After getting all the info I needed to get the visa for Macedonia (now I have to find the Macedonian embassy!) I decided to walk arround in the centre a little bit. So as I was taking a picture of a building, two street kids came up and asked me for money. Of course I said I had none, and of course they kept asking. Since I needed an internet cafe i decided I would give them each 1 lei (like 40 cents or something) if they could show me where an internet cafe was. They did, but I think they were taking me for a ride, cause I never acutally found one. So they kept following me and pointing "that way, that way" and all I wanted was to get away from them but they kept lurking. I figured they were up to something -- I mean, I had seen them checking out my pockets earlier and stuff. Low and behold they both walk up to me, one on each side and ask for money and tell me that they are hungry, and one guy grabs inside my pocket for my camera. So I hit him, told him to fuck off and walked away. While walking away I kept wishing I had decked the shit out of them (you know, adrenalin and all) but I think I traumatized them a bit! I don't think they saw that one comming...little #@$%@%^#%^. Needless to say they stopped following me. Nonetheless, I am happy that I was at least AWARE I was being pickpocketed, and was able to catch them. But I am also kinda freaked out and am glad Tim is going to meet up with me in Sofia so I will at least have a travel buddy. I am in a bit of a weird head space right now, so I am gonna go find me some eats and take some more pictures, figure out where the hell I am in this city and try to enjoy it.

Riding the Carpatians

riding the carpatians
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Well I have been in Romania for about two weeks now and I am really starting to like it! Every place I have been has had something different to offer -- Timisoara was filled with many an alcoholic beverage, intellectual conversation, getting used to hearing Romanian; Sighisoara was REALLY quiet, as I was the only one in the hostel for the first night; Sibiu was lovely and snow-covered, but muddy as hell; Brasov good eats, good nightlife (happy st. patricks day, by the way - I know what I am doing tonight!) and SNOW and SNOWBOARDING! MY GOD! If I lived here, I would be here at LEAST 3 times a week! The snow was unbelievable, and although I am so sore I can barely walk today, it was WELL worth the trip out there! The next day went to Dracula's Castle and Rasnov, gorgeous citdael ruins in the midst of being rebuilt. Myh trip to Bran and Rasvno was very enchanting as it felt like I had just walked into a Christmas village in the north pole or something. All the houses were covered in snow and it was white everywhere! I loved it! This weekend I am going to some sort of Couchsurfing party in Sinaia, (also in the mountains) afterwhich I should be heading off to Bucuresti for a few days before heading out to Bulgaria.

all aboard!

all aboard!
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

So I just left Serbia yesteday for Romania in which the trip there and first night were a bit on the ridiculous (but good) side! First off, the train station was deserted and in ruins. It kind of made me wonder as if there was even a train but low and behold, a one wagon emtpy train was sitting there, waiting for me, the sole passenger, as the police and border guards looked over my passport. I was in a pretty good mood from the two beers I had had with Darko before coming and was excited about my trip. So when I got on the train it was chat chat chat chat chat with the conductors! When I got to Romania they even asked the Romanian rail workers if It would be ok if I bought my ticket in Euros, since I didn\t have any Lei and there was no time in between trains to go exchange money. I have to say, I quite enjoyed the special attention I got and had a smile going from one ear to the other!

After that I got to Timisoara and was greeted by my couchsurfing host, who has proven to be REALLY interstesting and we have already covered major subjects in our disussions! So we went out for a few beers and this is where the story gets intense...So we're in the place called Papillon and there are some French guys there - excellent - so we get talking and then I have go to pee, which should come as no surprise for those of you who know me and my bladder size! So all of a sudden I am greeted by this new aquaintance in the (unisex) bathroom where I am kindly invited to go back to his appartment with him. ?!?!??!?!? Wha? Did I miss something cause all this time I thought we were just talking!

Then later, a fight breaks out right behind me, I got some blood on my scarf, hair and jeans. Now I don't consider myself to suffer from princess syndrome, but I didnt thing some fat guy's blood on my clothes and body was pretty gross. Aparently that's not typical though, and I believe that. Romanians acutally have a rather peaceful history and that cafe/pub was sort of an artsy cafe that shows films on a screen and is populated with painters, sculpters, photographers, etc. and the people I met last night were really great!
Anyay, so after all this, I got hit on by a drunk hungarian-romanian sculptor that coulndn't formulate a sentance. All in all it was pretty interesting!
After all this, went back to Ron's place to head into some more discussion on a wide array of issues, watch part of a movie that I have yet to finish, and then head off to bed at the wee hours of the morning!

Now I am having coffee with lemon (definetely a first, but I can't say it's bad...) and will be heading out to town shortly.

off to a good start

YARGH! I am an idiot. I haven't even LEFT yet and I have screwed up already. *note to self -- never confuse train times as there is a big difference between 13:45 and 15:45.

Now my fellow couchsurfer will be waiting at the train station for ...well..no once cause I won't be there yet!

Can I still call my self a rookie and pass this off as a rookie mistake?!

Up and at 'em!

Yowzers! I COMPLETELY forgot about my blog!!! And now, just as I am about to "set sail" again, I figured I should probably let you all know where I am at and what I am doing (not that anyone reads this anyway?!) Anyway, I won't go on about why I am leaving earlier than predicted - things just didn't turn out to be what either of us on both sides expected and there are 7 neighbouring countries here, so why not hit'em up?! First stop is Timisoara, Romania, which is about 2 hours away from here, then I plan going through the mountains and stopping by good ol' Vlad's castle (Drakula) and am hoping to find a hiking tour of some sort since I am not fully equipped to snowboard (It's gonna be painful to go to the mountains while the snowboard season is still in full swing, but what can you do?! I'll get my mounain fix through a little hike or two....

On how to make a crappy ceasar salad when in a foreign land

5 – Read the ingredients from your website recipe of choice (you must use the internet, since you do not remember how to make it) and substitute them with any local products available to you. *I have found that subsituting the word «Dijon» with «fine» works quite well, and «romaine lettuce» with «green lettuce»

4- Assume any ingredient you can't find will not affect the taste THAT much.

3- If the ceasar salad dressing must sit over night, be sure to make the mix one hour before the guests arrive.

2-Since you do not have access to a blender, assume that chopping the garlic semi-fine will do.

1- If the internet recipe says 2-6 cloves, do not, and i mean DO NOT choose the larger of the two, as this will result in a very overpowering taste....unless you really want your dressing to have that..je ne sais quoi, or that «zest».


Indeed, yesterday was my birthday along with the patron saint day celebration of the family here and so we were to feast! Of course, being the helpful person that I am I wanted to help in the kitchen with something easy and foolproof, like, for example, salads.

Silly, silly Lisa. Maybe I should stick to readily available store bought mix in Canada! I graciously accepted the kind compliments of the guests, who probably just felt sorry for me. I did, however, redeem myself through pasta salad. So let that be a lesson to you kids, if all else fails, go with the pasta salad.

New Year's in Berlin

wha?
Originally uploaded by borderlys.

Met up with Scott on nov. 29th where we hung out in a hotel only to meet up with Gwen on the 31st...had a nice cooking party (flickr photos) dinner and a bit of wine (photo) followed by a party where the free state of "Bulvaria" was discussed. (I tried to convince Scott it was acutally Bavaria but he would have none of it). Tomorrow I am heading back to Serbia for Christmas. I think my stomach is going to explode but how many times to I get to eat authentice cabbage rolls and other yummy slavic treats. Oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEAR!